Apr 6, 2009 12:48 pm US/Pacific
Obama Admin. Seeks Dismissal Of Wiretap Lawsuit
SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) ―
The Obama administration Justice Department has asked a federal judge in San Francisco to dismiss a lawsuit that alleges the government engaged in illegal "dragnet surveillance" of American's telephone and e-mail communications.
The motion submitted to U.S. District Judge Walker on Friday claims that national security would be endangered if the lawsuit is allowed to proceed.
The Justice Department attorneys asked for a hearing on June 25.
The argument that national security would be at risk is the same claim that was used by the Bush administration Justice Department in response to more than three dozen wiretapping lawsuits filed against telecommunications companies beginning in 2006.
The new lawsuit was filed in October by five Californians represented by the San Francisco-based Electronic Frontier Foundation.
Unlike the earlier cases, it was filed directly against the government rather than telecommunications companies.
Both sets of lawsuits challenged alleged warrantless surveillance undertaken in response to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Justice Department lawyers wrote in the motion filed on Friday, "The disclosure of the information implicated by this case, which concerns how the United States seeks to detect and prevent terrorist attacks, would cause exceptionally grave harm to national security."
Electronic Frontier Foundation attorney Kevin Bankston said his group was disappointed the Obama administration is continuing the position of the previous administration.
Bankston charged that the current administration "is continuing the Bush administration's cover-up of the National Security Agency's dragnet surveillance of millions of Americans."
He said, "It feels like deja vu all over again."
(© CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Bay City News contributed to this report.)
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